An extensive multi-month investigation by an international legal foundation has allegedly uncovered a broker network systematically recruiting North Korean nationals into forced labor within Russia under the guise of fake student enrollments. The scheme purportedly bypasses United Nations sanctions and domestic labor regulations, channeling critical revenue into Pyongyang's ballistic missile and weapons programs.
According to the report released by Global Rights Compliance, the labor-brokering platform KNDR.su, operated by Russian businessman Vladimir Sokolov, markets North Korean workers to prospective employers across agriculture, construction, and IT sectors. The Netherlands-based nonprofit claims the network charges placement commissions ranging between 100,000 and 150,000 rubles per worker.
During covert interactions with investigators posing as prospective employers, Sokolov’s operations director, Ruslan Zhukov, allegedly explained that North Korean workers are enrolled in educational institutions they never attend specifically to circumvent labor laws. The report further indicates that these individuals are subjected to grueling work schedules, purportedly laboring 12 hours a day, six days a week.
United Nations Security Council resolutions enacted in 2017 strictly prohibit member states from hosting North Korean laborers in order to cut off funding for Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions. Despite these international prohibitions, tens of thousands of North Korean workers remained stationed abroad, generating hundreds of millions of dollars. The Russian regime reportedly issued over 36,000 visas to North Koreans, marking a dramatic fourfold increase, with nearly all designated for educational purposes.
Global Rights Compliance concluded that the underground network also supports the Russian regime's military-industrial infrastructure amid ongoing conflicts. While Sokolov and Zhukov failed to respond directly to formal inquiries, Zhukov previously dismissed the allegations as entirely fabricated, insisting the arrangements involve legitimate specialized college exchanges and practical industrial training under intergovernmental agreements.
Source: www.aljazeera.com